Page 4 - Supreme Court

Tiger Global ruling: Despite Gaar relief, investors seek more clarity

Tax uncertainty persists after Supreme Court's Tiger Global ruling despite GAAR relief, with concerns over treaty benefits, TRC validity and indirect transfer taxation

SC lays down measures to curb illegal mining in Chambal sanctuary

Top court orders CCTV monitoring, GPS tracking and strict enforcement steps, warning of mining ban and paramilitary deployment if states fail to curb illegal extraction

Judges must rise above personal faith in religious matters: SC Bench

Top court says adjudication in religious matters must be guided by constitutional principles, not personal beliefs, during Sabarimala-related hearings

SC denies relief to Cong leader Pawan Khera, asks him to move Assam court

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea of Congress leader Pawan Khera seeking protection against possible coercive action till April 20 in a case lodged against him for levelling allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife. The top court asked Khera to move a court of competent jurisdiction in Assam for anticipatory bail in the case. At a press conference on April 5, Khera alleged that the Assam CM's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, had multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in Sarma's election affidavit for the April 9 Assembly polls in that state. The CM and his wife rejected the allegations as false and fabricated. A bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar on Friday took note of the submissions of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Khera, and asked the Assam court that will hear the Congress leader's plea to not consider adverse remarks, if any, made by the top court and the Telangan

Illegal mining has created environmental crisis in Chambal sanctuary: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project. Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer. It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers. "It can't be gainsaid that th

SC plea seeks to declare forced religious conversion as 'terrorist act'

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday in the aftermath of allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment at a multinational company (MNC) in Nashik seeking directions to control deceitful religious conversion. It was filed in the backdrop of charges of sexual harassment and allegations of forced religious conversion levelled by eight female employees at TCS' office in Nashik. The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay contended that deceitful religious conversion is not only a serious threat to sovereignty, secularism, democracy and liberty but also a menace to fraternity, dignity, unity and national integration. The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, has sought directions to the Centre and the state governments to take stringent steps to control religious conversion. "The organised religious conversion in Nasik has shaken the conscience of citizens throughout the country. Therefore, petitioner is filing this application for direction seek

SC dismisses Anil Ambani's plea challenging fraud tagging of his accounts

Supreme Court of India dismisses Anil Ambani plea against fraud tag on bank accounts; allows banks to proceed while leaving settlement option open

SC dismisses plea against transfer of EC officers in poll-bound West Bengal

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea challenging the transfer of administrative and police officers by the Election Commission in poll-bound West Bengal. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also said that the question of law raised in the matter would be kept open. The bench passed the order while hearing a plea challenging a Calcutta High Court order dated March 31. The high court had dismissed a PIL challenging the transfer of officers by the poll panel in West Bengal. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted on May 4.

SC rejects pleas of Anil Ambani challenging Bombay HC order in fraud case

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the pleas of industrialist Anil Ambani challenging the Bombay High Court order that allowed the proceedings initiated by banks against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud to continue. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi permitted Ambani to pursue his plea before the high court's single judge bench against the banks' show cause notices to declare the accounts as fraud. The bench requested the single judge bench to expeditiously decide Ambani's plea against the show cause notices issued by three banks. The apex court passed the order while hearing three separate pleas filed by Ambani who had challenged a February 23 order of a division bench of the high court. The division bench had quashed a single judge bench interim order that stayed proceedings initiated against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud. The divisio

SC rejects plea on guidelines for Ashoka Chakra display on national flag

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to the Centre and others to frame guidelines for the display of the Ashoka Chakra on the national flag. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi told the petitioner, who appeared in person, to do something constructive for society. "There is no need to be so emotional about these things. Your idea is good. You have informed the authorities. Now it is for the authorities to see what they want to do," the CJI told the petitioner. "You do some constructive work for society," the bench said. The petitioner showed a picture of the Ashoka Chakra installed at a roundabout in Varanasi, but the bench refused to entertain the plea.

Most difficult task is to declare belief of millions wrong, says SC

Supreme Court emphasises restraint in religious matters, cautioning against diluting core practices while hearing constitutional questions arising from the Sabarimala case

West Bengal's SIR exercise casts a long shadow on electoral integrity

Overall, some nine million voters - about 12 per cent of the electorate - were struck off the roll. Of those, about six million were deemed "absentee" or "deceased"

Courts can't judge religious belief of denomination: Sabarimala board to SC

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the historic Sabarimala temple in Kerala, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that religion is a set of beliefs and practices followed by a denomination with a broadly similar identity and the court cannot sit in judgement of that belief. A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant was told by the board, which is a statutory autonomous body that manages over 1,000 temples in South India, that the beliefs and practices of the community have to be judged by the subjective belief of the community and the court is bound to accept their belief. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the TDB said, "Religion is a set of beliefs and practices followed by a group/sect/denomination with a broadly similar identity. While Article 25 clearly vests in an individual the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, such individual rights cannot be allowed to extend to an area which intrudes upon the mass of ...

SC seeks Centre, EC's reply on biometric voter verification plea

The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and ECI on a plea for biometric and facial voter verification, noting legal changes and costs would be required

SC raps states over illegal sand mining, flags risk to Chambal bridge

The Supreme Court criticised states over illegal sand mining after a forest guard's death, raising concerns over governance lapses and warning of risks to the Chambal bridge

SC seeks Centre, EC's response on plea for biometric voter verification

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre, Election Commission and others on a plea seeking to implement finger and iris biometric identification system at polling stations to prevent duplicate voting. While agreeing to hear the plea, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made clear that the prayer sought in the petition can't be considered for the current state Assembly elections in some states. "However, whether such a recourse deserves to be followed before the next parliamentary election and/or state assembly elections needs to be examined. Issue notice," the bench said. The top court issued notice to the Centre, the poll panel and several other states seeking their responses on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. Upadhyay, who appeared in person, told the bench that the prayer sought in the plea would prevent bribery and proxy voting. The bench observed that it would require major changes in the rules and would incur

SC notice to Centre, EC on plea to implement biometrics at polling stations

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking direction to the Election Commission to implement finger and iris biometric identification system at polling stations to prevent duplicate voting. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made clear that the prayer sought in the plea can't be considered for the current state Assembly elections in some states. "However, whether such a recourse deserves to be followed before the next parliamentary election and/or state assembly elections needs to be examined. Issue notice," the bench said. The top court sought responses from the Centre, the poll panel and several other states on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. "The injury to citizens is extremely large as bribery, undue influence, personation, duplicate voting and ghost voting still affects the purity and integrity of the electoral process," the plea submitted.

SC refuses to quash CBI FIR against Lalu Prasad Yadav in land-for-jobs case

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash a CBI FIR in the land-for-jobs case involving RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, however, granted exemption to the 77-year-old former Bihar chief minister from appearance before the trial court during the proceedings. The top court allowed Yadav to raise the issue of the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case. The Delhi High Court had on March 24 refused to quash a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in the case involving Yadav and his family members, rejecting the RJD chief's contention that the agency's action was legally unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The land-for-jobs case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as the railways minister between 2004 a

SC seeks reply from Centre, others on plea concerning states' costs in MSP

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea to accord weightage to states' proposal on the exact cost of cultivation while fixing minimum support price (MSP). A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the Centre and others, including the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, seeking their response on the plea. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, said the plea raises a very important issue related to the farmers in the country. The plea has sought direction to the authorities to ensure complete procurement of all notified crops under the MSP calculated on the basis of the exact cost of cultivation. It has also sought direction to take appropriate steps to ensure complete procurement of crops from all farmers who are desirous of selling their crops at the MSP.

SC to hear on Monday pleas related to SIR of electoral rolls in Bengal

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal. As per the apex court's cause list of April 13, the pleas would be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. On April 10, the top court had agreed to hear on April 13 a fresh plea along with pending ones challenging the freezing of electoral rolls by the Election Commission ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal. The poll panel has frozen and finalised the electoral rolls on April 9 for the assembly seats which are going to polls in the first stage. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted on May 4. The freezing of electoral rolls means that no new person, who has been deleted, can be added to the voters list for this assembly polls. On Monday, the bench would also hear the suo motu case related to the .